The NAMM Young Professionals has proudly paired 7 Mentees and Mentors in a year long Mentorship experience on 11/15/22. This grouping marks YP’s 10th class since the Mentorship Program launch in 2018. Participants in this class include individuals from industry companies: Taylor Guitars, The Music People, Korg USA, Martin Guitars, Instrumental Music Center, Spicer’s Music, The Music Shoppe, Nick Rail Music, Shure and Sweetwater.
NAMM YP President, Jeremy Payne, notes: “I’m so incredibly proud of the growth and success of this program. After an applicant applies online, our Board has a discussion with each Mentee and they are thoughtfully matched with an appropriate Mentor from the industry who will help them grow. That’s a ton of volunteer work and our industry owes the Board a great debt of gratitude. This work is ensuring the future leadership of our industry and I’m happy to say the future is looking very bright.”
Mentors and Mentees that embark on the mentorship journey together can expect a yearlong educational journey with meetings together at least once per month. Payne adds “We provide a handbook and other resources to guide the experience. The aim is for Mentors to develop and guide Mentees towards effective decision making and not just providing them the answers they need. The age old, ‘Give someone a fish and they’ll eat for a day, teach them to fish they’ll eat for a lifetime’ saying is what I always use to explain how the experience should go.”
Payne concludes, “Mentorship is important. This program is life changing on so many levels. We want to pair as many young people in our industry as possible and I challenge the leaders around our industry to let their staff members know this program exists and encourage them to sign-up. It’s free for all NAMM Member company employees.”
Both interested Mentor and Mentee applicants can sign-up for future classes of the NAMM YP Mentorship Program at www.NAMMYP.org.
